Chocolate Tastes Bitter
by stale popcorn
Summary: 'How did I get here'  The same question runs through Tira's head as she is thrown into a van like garbage and treated like a hostage or some two dollar whore by the men who reside there.  'Who is Sayu?  Do they not see I'm not Japanese.'  no pairings.
1. step one

**_Originally_**_** beta-read by Toddsninja and subtly changed by dance lina.**_

m ai n. c har a c te r.

Name: Tira

Age: 17

Appearance: Dark brown hair cut into what's supposed to be a bob cut, but it refuses to lay down. Mostly she keeps to herself and carries a small black satchel everywhere that contains her favorite book, the occasional piece of candy, a dirty white DS, and a scratched CD player. You can usually spot her wearing the same ripped army jacket, button up blouse, plaid skirt (length depends on day/ mood), and an old pair of shoes that resemble combat boots.

History: Born with a name that she always hated, Tira stopped using it once she reached her teenage years. Ever since that day, she refuses to let anyone call her by _that_ abomination of a name. Only a few people actually interact with on a daily basis though, her parents and best friend turned girlfriend, Kim. Talk about depressing. Nevertheless, that's what you get for having an abrasive personality.

m in o r. c har a c ter. (for the first chapter only)

Name: Kim

Age: 18

Appearance: She can be easily spotted because of a debatable haircut she favors; black hair dyed red at the tips cut into a very short style with bangs cut straight across. Unlike Tira, her hair actually lays down, with the occasional flyways. Her clothes are always filled with bright colors that contrast heavily with what Kim calls "Tira's homeless wear." Right now, her outfit consists of black slightly ripped shorts, neon green tights, a loose white t-shirt that has 'I put the FUN in dysfunctional.' scrawled in huge pink letters, and a pair of scuffed white vans covered with a picture of a multicolored robot holding a bloody rainbow made of intestines.

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><p>"<em>Kim,<em> I'm out of candy!" I leaned back, nearly breaking my neck to catch a glimpse of her from my bedroom. I must have zoned out because I would have noticed the lack of the sweet substance in my mouth. "Yeah and?" Kim's muffled voice sounded mocking and my deprived mouth went dry and twisted into a painful frown. She couldn't possibly be in a bad mood again. This is the third time in the same week!

"Go and get some for me," I whined. My legs were jelly and I couldn't bring myself to go and buy more. Besides, my bed was much too comfy. Though, it would be nice if she could join me…

Unfortunately, as soon as the words left my mouth, Kim flew into a rant, bright clothes and dark hair flying everywhere. _'She looks amazing angry-wait FOCUS!'_ If I actually listened to her, I would've noticed her saying something about my laziness. My bottom lip trembled and morphed into what hopefully looked like a pout and I looked up at her with a hopeful face. '_Come on, come on. Get it for me…'_ After a few more insults about my demanding personality, I found myself quickly walking on the crisp and empty streets of Japan. It wasn't so bad, _no_ in fact, it sucked! Kim knows how much I hate going outside. _'Note to self, find a new girlfriend.'_

The store I was heading to was a nice small candy store with few costumers and great chocolate. Smiling at the thought of finally buying my desired items, I took no notice of the black van pulling up softly next to me.

"Are you Sayu Yagami?" A deep voice asked from behind of me, startling me. I turned around quickly to catch a glimpse of the face who addressed me, but I realized the person wore a mask to hide any good features. Not recognizing the name or the voice, I slowly but apprehensively began to move away while trying to speak, "No, I'm-"

I had no chance to, however, as something quickly covered my mouth and nose. Before I knew it, a strong chemical smell invaded my senses and my eyes began to sink until I was no longer aware of anything. The last thing I felt was my body being thrown into the van and my head banging the window.

….

When the world finally came back, I found myself lying on a cold and hard floor. I groaned as my eyes opened, or tried to open, as a blindfold covered them. _'I should have never let Kim force me to get my own candy._' I thought to myself warily. Now, if only I knew where I was. "Well, look who's finally up." A masculine voice drawled.

I searched blindly, hoping the owner of the voice would speak once more, so I could pinpoint their whereabouts. They must have been closer than I thought because my nose picked up the faint smell of sweet, sweet chocolate. I couldn't help but let my mouth water.

"Sayu, we have taken you hostage you so we can get the Notebook."

"A noffbok?" I garbled and gagged, trying to talk around the restraint in my mouth. Then a thought came to me, why anyone would go to the extremes for a notebook? Why couldn't they just buy another one?

"What?" The voice came again, pissed, "Oh right." The person came closer to me, and placed their hand on the side of my face, over the gag, "Just promise me you won't scream." As the person leaned closer, I realized two things, they were definitely male and their smell was overwhelming. Chocolate of the finest kind radiated of the slim dark form that reminded me of the chocolate in that beautiful store. It wasn't until my mouth was empty and my nostrils free of the delicious scent that I realized that I could speak and surprisingly see. "Hate to break it to you, but you have the wrong person." I said smiling at the person in front of me, however, I couldn't make out their features; my eyes weren't completely free of the effects of the blindfold. The guy scoffed and took a bite out of his chocolate bar, "As if I haven't heard that before."

"My name isn't Saya or whatever the guys who kidnapped me said. It's Tira." He mocked my voice and said in the same carefree tone, "It's _Tira_. Yeah right."

I lifted my head to give this guy my infamous death stare. '_How dare he mock at me!' _I finally got a good look at his face since he drifted over to the window. The boy had long blond hair, which was styled in a girly way, and piercing blue eyes. My eyes soon shifted over the rest of his body, but before I went too far, I noticed his hand. I felt my eyes widen and lock on the chocolate bar clutched in his hand. "Hey!" I snapped out of my trance when he waved his hand in front of my face.

With added annoyance in my voice, I said, "What do you want?" The blond scowled. "You said your name was Tira and I don't believe you." It was my turn to scowl. "Do you think I go around giving people fake names? That's not how I get my kicks!"

I lied there on the ground, waiting for him to answer my question. However, when he did nothing but glare at me, I took this as a chance to speak. "Well, since YOU made a mistake, I wanna be untied. I've got places to be and people to annoy."

As soon as the words left my confident mouth, his scowl turned into a laugh, "Do you honestly think I'm just going to let you go?" He took an amused bite of his chocolate bar, "Just like that?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but I shut it closed again. Saying something smart won't get me anywhere. With one last laugh, the blond turned and left out a solid metal door. The loud sound echoed throughout the large basement-like room and before I knew it, I was alone again. With a heavy sigh, I muttered, "Lucky me."

…..

An idea popped into my head after lying there for half an hour (or what I think was half an hour). I had almost forgotten about the small knife Kim gave me years ago for protection. _'I hate when she's right.' _I always keep in my back pants pocket despite the obvious safety risks. With newfound determination, I began twisting and turning for five minutes, until the knife fell on the floor with a loud clank. I quickly looked at the door just in case anyone heard that. When no one came to the door, I excitedly turned back to my small victory.

I stared at the knife wondering what to do next. My mind always had a habit to slow down at the worst possible time. I leaned back on the floor and gripped the handle of the knife with my mouth. The bitter taste of the handle almost made me drop it instantly, but I forced myself onward. Once I was sure the knife was secure in my mouth, I sat up and dropped the knife in my hands. Carefully and slowly, I moved my hands so that the knife was under the ropes and began to cut through them. After some careful maneuvering, I cut completely through the ropes restraining my hands. I rubbed my sore wrists and made sure to leave the ropes on my feet tied. I didn't want to untie them, start walking around to have someone walk in and see me. I'm not that stupid.

Bored, I ran my hands over my bound body, searching for…something. An excited smile grew quickly when I felt the familiar clasp the only my old satchel could have. I peeked for any signs of movement and looked inside for something entertaining. After a few seconds, I had success! I had found a half eaten chocolate bar that looked old, one of my favorite paperbacks, a dead DS, and no CD player. Looks like I could have saved a lot of trouble if I had checked myself sooner.

After I put down the precious finds, I decided to look around and get familiar with my new surroundings. Using the dim light leaking through the stained window, I saw a chair, a door, a very small window. I leaned against the wall and tried to get comfortable. I gnawed thoughtfully on the chocolate bar and tried not to gag at the stale taste.

It was long after a few hours that I felt my eyes start to close. Before I fell asleep, a single thought remained in my head. _'I miss Kim, but at least I get a small vacation from her annoying mood swings. Though, I miss her comforting warmth.' _I slipped my arms out of the sleeves of the ripped army jacket I favored and wrapped them around my waist, as a poor replacement for Kim's arms. I tried not to think of the dark bittersweet perfume she always wore and how much I love the taste of her various lipsticks. A small tear fell onto my top lip and I quickly wiped it away with an angry swipe. Now is not the time for tears.

I forced myself to push her face away and focus on something else; like my escape plan. Maybe tomorrow, I could convince the blond guy to let me go. However, I doubt he would be that kind. After a small amused snort, I finally fell asleep against the wall.

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><p>so far, so good.<p> 


	2. step two

You alreay know damn well I don't own the series or the original plot idea. Now we get Light's sister, Sayu, into the picture. Let's begin. Yet other chapter beta-read by the

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><p><em>Slam!<em>

Eyes wide, I searched for the source of the noise, which had interrupted my sleep. _'Anyone ever hear of knocking?' _I couldn't help but think as I groggily sat up. I quickly focused on the door, which closed once again. There appeared to be no other people in the room except for me and…a girl lying on the floor, bound and gagged. Well, talk about surprises! To say the least, I was now fully awake and quickly untied the ropes on my feet and treaded carefully to where she lay.

'_Is she dead?'_ I wondered. The girl was pale and I could tell she was having trouble breathing. Panic formed in my stomach, she wasn't dead was she? A selfish thought creeped into my head, but I quickly ignored it. With trembling hands, I grasped her wrist, nervously looking for her pulse.

...

Ah! There it was. I quickly concluded she had been merely knocked out. _'Just like me.'_ She was a pretty girl with creamy skin and dark wavy hair. Her face was an innocent one, but judging from her figure, I could tell she was older than her face proclaimed.

"Why aren't you tied up?" I jumped when I heard the voice of the guy from before. _'Note to self, learn how to enhance your senses.'_ Slowly, I turned around to meet his furious gaze. "The… " I looked around quickly, trying to come up with a believable excuse. "Ropes! I mean the rope weren't tied properly. So they came undone when I moved." I lied, hoping he wouldn't catch the slight twitch of my eye. I hated lying. Then again…

"Really?" the blond drawled, an amused and cruel tone danced in his voice, "So that knife over there had nothing to do with you?" I turned my head to look in the direction that he pointed in. My knife was lying on the ground next to the ropes. _'Fuck_! _Why did I leave the knife right next to the ropes?'_ Panicked, I forced myself to meet his amused and cruel gaze.

"What's that on your mouth?" He spoke suddenly. The question caught me off guard, what did I have on my face? Nasty, stale, bitter- chocolate, of course! I lifted up my hand and rubbed at my mouth. When it came back to me I noticed that, yes, there had been chocolate on my face. Can you say careless? I'm really spacey today. "Well Mr. Scary-Blond-Guy, it appears that your floor infected me with dirt."

_'Mental high five!'_ I subtly moved my head to mock the movement with a strange smile, not caring how crazy I must have looked.

Before he could say anything else, a muffled groan alerted me of the girl; who had been previously motionless. I carefully walked over to her, while keeping an eye on the blond. You never know what jumpy blonde-haired people can do. She carefully opened her eyes and stared at me confusedly as I smiled and helped her sit up. Her hands and feet were tied in the same as mine were. I reached for the back of her head, where I knew the knot to the gag would be.

"What are you doing?" the blond haired male sneered, taking a few steps toward us in a threatening manner. "I'm taking off the gag," I answered, equally annoyed. The blond huffed but was obviously okay with my suggestion.

The girl groaned one final time before realizing her mouth was free and began to speak. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"Are you going to do your scary kidnapper speech like you did with me, Blondie?" I mocked, and he growled, sent me an intense glare, before turning his attention to the girl, who was now sitting up and trying to remove her bounds with much failure. I quickly walked away to watch from afar.

"Hello Sayu Yagami." The blond began to speak; a triumphant smirk adorned his face. He took a bite of his chocolate bar.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" The girl, Sayu, shakily spoke. She was obviously nervous, and I couldn't blame her, it wasn't a party, getting kidnapped. _'By a questionable person who thinks every girl is Sayu.' _I rolled my eyes at the typical questions that she had asked, why did all the hostages ask the same questions? I hadn't asked those! Did that mean I wasn't a hostage? _'Well, I sure as hell ain't a stupid one.'_ I released a laugh; I'm acting as if I'm not a hostage myself.

The blond glared in my direction and I could see the girl follow his movement. "I am Mello," He, Mello, took another bite out of his chocolate bar, making my stomach quench in jealousy and hunger. "You have been taken because we need The Notebook."

"So…your name is Mello?" I asked from across the room. He ignored me and focused on Sayu who spoke softly, and I strained to listen in. I kept getting fragments so I gave up after a while. It wasn't until Mello was in front of me that I realized that Sayu was knocked out again.

"When are you going to let me go?" I asked, hope filling my insides. They had the right girl now, there was no need to keep me here any longer. Right? Mello smirked and said, "You aren't going anywhere."

"What!" I fumed, "Why not?"

"There is no way that I can just let you leave," Mello said darkly, "You know too much. Outside sources may get information out of you."

"I don't even know what made you kidnap me! I don't even know where we are!" I urged. It was all true; I knew nothing except for the fact that they wanted 'The Notebook' Mello shook his head, his features betraying the seriousness of the situation, "We are going to have to kill you."

"Why?" I exclaimed, already there were gruesome pictures of my misfortune playing in my mind. There was no way I was going to be killed over nothing! I shook my head fiercely and announced, "Fuck that. You're not killing me."

"What makes you think you can decide?" Mello drawled, an pleased expression reclaiming his features once again. "In case you have yet to notice, you are the hostage here, and therefore, in a disadvantage." I rolled my eyes, annoyed. "If it means I get to live, I'm staying here."

"No you're not." Mello said sharply, looking like he wanted to hit me. "Like I said-"

"Yes I am," I yelled back in frustration, cutting him off. I would much rather stay here and live than be executed because of some stupid notebook. To make my point, I stood up and went for my stuff, which lay safely on the floor. Once I shoved everything back into the small bag, I strung it over my shoulder and looked pointedly back at him with added swagger in my steps. "You're going to let me stay here," I said convincingly.

"What makes you think I will follow along with your little plan?" Mello hissed at me, his face contorting to that of a wild animal. He crossed his arms over his chest. I held up two fingers and said, "Then I'm going to give you two choices."

"Really?" he mocked, and took a bite of his chocolate bar. "One," I began, narrowing my eyes at Mello, "I stay here, _alive_, until you trust me enough to know that I won't say anything about this," I gave a moody smile. "Or two, you die and I leave to tell the tale to the police."

As soon as those words were out of my mouth, my hands quickly flew to the knife in my pocket and pressed it snugly to Mello's smooth throat. However, not all things were in my favor, because at the same time Mello drew a gun from out of nowhere and pressed it to my temple. He grinned at me as he cocked the gun, "I'm sure you know that my bullet is faster than your knife."

"Pull the trigger and I cut your neck" I hissed out. I applied more pressure to his neck; making drops of blood roll down from it. It was a matter of speed now. I knew that there was no way I could move fast enough to evade his bullet.

He grinned at my challenge and began to slowly press the trigger, making the soft cricks toy with my ears. I reacted quicker than I thought possible and launched at him, pushing him down in my wake as I raced to the door, which I dearly hoped, would be unlocked. A shot rang through the room, fizzing by me as I reached the door. I crashed against it and thankfully, it swung open.

I raced through the unfamiliar surroundings, taking turns here and there, tripping as I heard the sound of bullets sometimes near and sometimes far. As I took a sharp turn I crashed into something, or rather, someone. We both fell with a thud, me on top of him, and I couldn't help but groan at the impact. My head and leg hurt like hell. As I tried to stand up, I realized that not only was my leg hurt, but it was impaled by my knife. I suppose that's why parents tell their children not to run with scissors, huh?

I painfully looked down to the person underneath me. I couldn't help but let my eyes widen. He had red hair and wore orange tinted goggles. "Awesome goggles!" I exclaimed. Even thought I was running for my life and had a knife in my leg that didn't mean I couldn't appreciate cool accessories.

"Uh…thanks." The guy groaned and attempted to sit up, so I quickly rolled off of him. "Who are you?" he asked once I was off. "Oh sorry, how rude of me. I'm Tira and you are?" I asked, trying to stand up but the knife in my leg denied my command.

"Matt," he supplied, looking down at me confusedly. "Hi Matt," I replied and noticed his gaze, "Before you ask, I'll tell you. This blond guy named Mello accidentally kidnapped me. I'm running because I held a knife to his neck and started making threats and I crashed into you so there is a knife stuck in my leg," I expressed happily.

"Okay…" Matt sighed, ruffled his hair and began looking for his PSP which he had dropped on impact.

"Can you help find my game?" I asked worriedly, I couldn't possibly hope to escape without any form of entertainment on me even if it was dead. "I dropped it when I ran into you." As if by magic, he seemed interested in helping me. Even thought I hated to ask for help it was obvious that I wasn't going to make my grand escape with a knife stuck in my leg. Standing was getting harder to do and my leg couldn't take too much weight so I had to lean on Matt for support. He grumbled something that I didn't catch, my vision began to swim, and it was then that I noticed a pool of my blood forming underneath me. To say the least, I met with darkness once again. _'Hello again old friend.'_

When I came to the first thing I noticed is the softness underneath of me. I threw a blanket off me and tried to stand up. A sharp pain ran up my thigh and I remembered the happenings that led up to the knife embedding itself into my leg. My long skirt was pushed up in a rather lewd manner for some reason. Looking down at my thigh in the same spot were the knife had been, there was wrapped with a large white bandage. I was alone and it was dark, but I was sure that I wasn't in the dungeon room I had been kept in before.

With my mind set on finding out some answers, I limped out bed and across the room to investigate. Hopefully, I would be able to find something to eat as my stomach complained its empty state. I limped around for a small while, peaking into empty rooms and hanging on the walls for support. It wasn't too soon that I found a room with people in it. There were two people in the room, both male, and they were staring right at me. I recognized them as Matt and Mello. "Hey buds," I said hesitantly. "What's up?" I limped further into the room.

"What are you doing here?" Mello glared, "I thought our door was _locked_." He glared at Matt, who only shrugged. "I came to investigate," I clarified. "Seeing that I woke up alone in a creepy room with a bandage on my leg." Mello grumbled something under his breath that I didn't catch. "Besides, your friend here was kind enough to help me out when I passed out, unlike you." I limped over to where Matt was sitting and gave him a thank-you hug, which he awkwardly returned.

"Thanks. I owe you one." I said softly. "You're welcome." He nodded at me when I detached myself from him. With a smile I turned around to face Mello, who was silently watching my interaction with Matt, he frowned.

"Now I have to stay here," I chirped happily. "_Why?_" Mello sneered, his expression read: _over my dead body_. "I have to let my leg heal, remember?" I toyed, "Seeing as you didn't kill me in my sleep, you're letting me live, right? So we're roomies now!" That said, I limped over to the couch that Mello occupied and took a seat.

It was then that I noticed the many bars of chocolate that were carefully placed into columns on the coffee table in front of me. Overjoyed and ravenous from hunger, I picked up a bar and ignoring the death-ogle I was getting from Mello, I undressed the lovely chocolate and took a huge bite. I propped my leg up on table, making sure the skirt fell back down to cover my legs. Slowly, I leaned back and let out a happy sigh. '_I think I'm going to like it here.'_

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><p>successful changes.<p> 


	3. step three

Anyone familiar with the original story, this chapter has the most obvious changes. Obvious bs and enjoy the story.

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><p>"If you're going to be staying here, you're going to have to follow the rules I give you." Mello grumbled at me. It finally dawned on me, as he spoke those words. Never mind about the rules. I was going to be able to stay!<p>

"Thanks." I exclaimed, "Time for me to do my happy-dance". I proclaimed as I began to dance to a random tune. Ignoring the blank stares I was getting from both Matt and Mello, I went through my brain thinking of a song to dance too. "Okay," I began, having already decided on the appropriate song to dance to, "I need a volunteer. You have to do anything." I pointed to a random spot on the floor as I said this.

I didn't expect a response, so I grabbed the person standing closest to me, this person just happened to be Matt. I counted the beats along with my mental iPod and I opened my mouth to start mock the pulsating techno beat of one of my favorite songs. Without further distractions, I held my arms in front of me and began to do the robot. My head bobbed and my body moved in a jerking movement. I made sure to avoid putting a lot of weight on my hurt leg. I pulled Matt closer and tried to get him to do the robot with me, but as you know, all good times have to end.

"Stop it." A voice growled behind me. I stopped moving and turned around to face an angry Mello. "Why should I stop? I'm not doing anything wrong." I challenged. I really wasn't doing anything wrong.

He sent me a look that said 'oh really' and spoke with annoyance laced tightly in his voice, "So I'm not watching you practically have a seizure?" he pointed with a wave of his hand, his movements betrayed his discomfort.

"I'm not having a seizure!" I exclaimed, offended at his wording, "I'm just dancing."

Mello mumbled something that I didn't quite catch, but I knew it couldn't have been something nice that just slipped out of his potty mouth.

"What did you just say?" I hissed between my teeth angrily.

"I _said_," He accentuated, "You're dancing like a epileptic." He mused, a tight smirk held onto his features.

"That's harsh." I recoiled. It did tug at my chest, my dancing skills weren't that bad, and besides, the song called for some fun. "Oh did it now?" Mello rolled his eyes as he walked deeper into the dark room, watching me as he went, "What're going to do? Your '_sad-dance_'?" he said, venom dripping with every word, "Does that translate to, oh, I don't know, a _lap-dance_?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked, confused at the nasty words. He kept his head lowered and looked at me through his bangs. "Oh, you shouldn't act so brainless. It doesn't look good on you." I pushed past him and limped into the room I woke up in. By the time I had shut the door and locked it, angry tears were burning my eyes. Being called stupid wasn't my cup of tea.

"You're just jealous!" I shouted at the door, where Mello was sure to be. "_Of what?_" Mello shouted, his voice muffled by the door between us. _'Of my epic dancing skills. I bet if Kim was here…' _Huffing, I decided that I wasn't going to hide any longer; I opened the door that divided us and looked him in the eye as I spoke, "I want to go back home!" I slammed the door shut again. My resolve melted. I couldn't look at his face anymore. I want to go back to Kim and our messy apartment. My face heated at the words I'd said. "You could at least, _get out of my room_!" Mello growled, avoiding my answer to his sarcastic question.

A smile grew on my face at the new information that he had unknowingly released. '_Oh really? This is his room...' _I grinned wickedly and resisted the urge to release an evil laugh , but that didn't stop my fingers from forming the evil pyramid of contemplation. Talk about an epic name.

I walked around his room, running my hands over anything near, to become familiar with the new surroundings. Dark paint covered the plain white walls and upon closer inspection, I noticed holes that looked suspiciously like bullet holes. Only a few pictures decorated the walls. The four-poster bed shocked me a bit because it looked a little too nice to belong in this room. Across from the bed there was a rather large vanity mirror propped against the wall.

_'That's not fair. His mirror is three times bigger-'_

Erasing any thoughts I might have had about the mirror, I turned my head and spotted a small dresser next to the bed with a lonely white lamp sitting on top of it. I wanted to look around some more, but the urge to rummage through his things as payback was becoming my new goal. The first thing I wanted to look for was any evidence of food. I knew that this guy probably had stored some chocolate in his room if he was always eating it.

A smile fixed in place, I quickly began my search. It took longer than expected to completely look and rummage around every place that I could think of for chocolate, but still I had found none. I was searching his drawer now, but Mello's room seemed to be made up of shadows and it became obvious I wasn't going to find anything. Flustered, I looked towards the lamp I had seen earlier and turned it on.

"Ewww!" A scream left my mouth before I could stop it. The drawer I had been rummaging through was filled with many pornographic magazines. I felt as if I needed to burn my hands to cleanse them of touching such vile paper that was probably infected with various fluids.

Quickly, I shut the drawer, turned off the lamp, and limp ran (which is very hard for someone who still is injured) out of the room. Unfortunately, before I could make it two steps out of the perverted room, I crashed into someone warm. Matt. We fell with a thud and I groaned in pain and sat up to nurse my wound before uttering an apology.

"What are you doing?" someone hissed above me. "What?" I asked, confused at the sudden anger in whom I now realized to be Mello. Someone groaned underneath me and it was then that I realized that, once again, I was straddling Matt. "It's not what it looks like." I tried to clarify.

Mello rolled his eyes in obvious disbelief, "Is this another dance of yours?" I stood up as quickly as I could. Forgetting the pain in my leg and about how badly the need to wash my hands was. I pushed past Mello without a second though and walked to the nearest room, which was thankfully not too far away. _'Note to self, stop running into random rooms.'_ Fortunately, the room I had chosen contained a bathroom with a working shower. With a sigh, I dragged my heavy feet to the door, where I leaned up against the door to try and pull myself together.

'_What's wrong with me?' _it was worrisome, the way that I felt was not usual. With tired determination, I decided to take a long hot shower to calm myself down. I twisted the crafty knobs and let the water flow as I took off my clothes, grimacing at my stabbed leg. After I folded them carefully, just like Kim used to do, and stacked it on top of the toliet. I walked as carefully as I could into the blanket of steam the warm water had created and sighed as the warmth caressed my stressed self. There was a lack of extra sponges, so I used my hands. After a long shower, I found myself with a clear mind and renewed confidence. I grabbed the towel closest to me and wrapped it around my dripping body and shook my hair to get rid of the excess water, but it still cling to the nape of my neck. At least it's finally laying down.

It was then that I noticed I didn't have any clean clothes to change into. My eyes searched worriedly around the small bathroom for any evidence of clean clothes. I picked up my previously shedded attire and sniffed it hesitantly. My face crumpled in disgust as stale sweat and blood lingered on the fabric. To my dismay, I couldn't find anything at all. I decided it would be best to check the next room; the owner would surely have some semblance of clothing that I could wear. I opened the door of the bathroom and poked my head out to check that no one was in the room before coming out.

A thought occurred to me, I hadn't taken my bandaged off while I had showered, so I looked down and, surely enough, noticed that my bandage was soaked with blood leaking through. I rummaged through cabinets and found a first aid kit rather quickly. I changed the old bandage without much difficulty.

After putting the kit back I swiftly slipped out of the bathroom. The room was still empty so I moved calmly and without much of a hurry. I looked around and found an oddly placed door, to my surprise it was a closet. I grabbed a black and white shirt and an old pair of pants stashed near the corner of the room and closed the door.

I was now with some clothing so I went on to my search of the room I was in before this one. I wasn't quite sure as to where it was located so I figured it would be fine if I'd just open doors to every room that I was met with until I found said room. Luckily, the room was only a few steps away and I opted to open the door slowly in case there was someone else in the room.

Shirt still in hand, I placed it on the bed as I dried myself off. Absentmindedly, I began to hum out a song that had made itself known in my head.

_"Then when we drove our hearse_  
><em>Right through that screaming crowd<em>  
><em>While laughing up a storm<em>  
><em>Until we were just bone<em>  
><em>Until it got so warm."<em>

Before I could continue however, a rather loud and forceful throaty noise startled me. My grip on the towel slipped as I turned harshly around to meet the source of the noise… who just happened to be a very angry and very startled Mello.

'_Fuck…' _

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><p>song: On The Radio by Regina Spektor<p> 


	4. step four

I really don't have anything to say right now. Oh yeah! I love how the end of this chapter turned out. *gives self awesome cookie*

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><p>With a smug smirk on my face, I said, "Take a picture. It'll last longer." Now it was his turn to be confused. "What?" I pushed off his comment with a nonchalant shrug. "Nothing. What do you want?" My attempt to sound tough and non caring seemed to fail a bit once I heard how it sounded.<p>

He waved his hand at me and gestured to my nude form. "Where are your clothes?" I noticed he slowed down his words as if I was slow to catch on. I couldn't think of anything smart to say back so I tried to confuse him. "On the moon."

His expression quickly changed to a flustered one and shifted back to the irritated one he loved to use with me. "On the-_what_?" The undertone of the simple sentence held a dangerous statement that dared me to repeat what I just said. "N-never mind. I just got out the shower." He gestured for me to continue the pathetic excuse of a lie. "And you're in here because…"

This conversation is getting unnecessary and borderline stupid so I looked around for a distraction. My eyes stopped at a dartboard nailed to the wall that seemed out of place. Near the center of the board, a picture of a pale boy was taped to it. His picture had many darts that attached themselves to his stoic face, so I wondered who that was. I pointed to the pictured and asked, "Who's that?"

When he turned his head in the same direction, his eyes got this strange look in them. "That's _Near._" The way he said the boy's name held an emotion stronger than pure hatred. I stood behind him, waiting for him to explain who the boy was. When I finally decided to look up at him, I noticed he was glaring angrily at the picture as if it was the person itself. While he was distracted, I hurried up and put on the clothes I found. The shirt I grabbed earlier fell to my knees and the pants were rather baggy, but it felt good to be covered again. I rolled up the right pants leg and allowed the white bandage to get some fresh air. Maybe that might even speed up the healing.

Taking advantage of his temporarily dazed state, I slowly walked towards the door, but when I touched the knob my nose picked up the smell of chocolate. My mouth started to water because I can't remember the last time I had eaten anything. My eyes frantically searched the room for the delicious bar. _'Success! Come to mama...'_ I nearly pounced on the bed when I spotted the prize laying on the sheet. Slowly I wrapped the bar, as if I had all the time in the world to savor this moment. But for some reason, luck wasn't on my side today. Somehow, the sound of the wrapper pulled Mello out of his trance. He shot a death glare from across the room.

In a furious voice he growled, "What are you doing?" I shot him a careful smile and said, "I'm about to eat some chocolate." As if that was the most obvious thing in the world. He held out his hand and waggled his fingers in 'gimme' motion. "That's mine." In normal conditions, the dark look on his face would have scared me, but hunger gave me the strength to be bold. "And I care, why?" I brought the bar to my mouth to take a bite, but out of nowhere, he lunged at me.

The bar was smacked out of my hand and landed somewhere near the foot of the bed. "What the fuck Mello," I yelled in surprise. His knee found itself embedded in the still painful wound on my thigh, probably on purpose. A painful hiss left my mouth and I bit my lip to hold back any other sounds of pain. Quickly he scrambled to grab it while I was distracted, but I made a grab for his legs and start to pull. I didn't really want the bar, but this little competition turned personal once he decided to play dirty. Mello must have wanted the bar badly because he looked back and kicked me in the face. A surprised yelp and snug laugh echoed through the room. I released the steel grip on his foot and held my now bleeding nose. _'Look at what I've become. Fighting over chocolate!'_

With inhuman speed, Mello snarfed down half the bar in record time and said, or at least tried to say, "Want it now?" But it came out like, "Wanf it nof?" With an evil laugh, he shoved the rest of it into his greedy mouth right in front of my very hungry face.

"Bastard." I pushed past him, limping and hold my painful nose and decided to search for food somewhere else. I pulled the door open and walked out into the living room. I stopped suddenly when I realized two things; one, I don't know where the kitchen is and two, everybody in the room was staring at me. Just as I expected, their eyes swept over my heavily clothed body. I resisted the urge to cringe at the unwanted attention.

A bald man pointed a stubby pale finger at me and barked, "Who's this bitch?" I frowned at the derogatory term and felt my unoccupied hand curl into a fist. _'Wow…I'm right here. This embodies why I don't like associating myself with men.'_ I opened my mouth to answer the idiotic question, but stopped because they weren't talking to me. The question they asked was directed at Mello.

'_When did he get here?'_ His confidant mask slipped for a second and the stuttering began. "Well, she's…uh…." I jumped in to save him, even though we have a major dislike for each other, and said, "I'm Matt's cousin!" The same bald man nodded as if he was really thinking and turned back to the confused blond for some answers. "Is this true, Mello?" Everybody, including me, turned and looked at him for an answer. He kept the same, what I assumed to be an act or sick joke, going.

"Well…." I felt like slapping my head with a palm at this new behavior. '_This isn't getting anywhere.'_ I decided to talk for him instead because he might mess everything up. "Yup, it's true." One of the guys walked up and looked me up and down. "How long are you staying?" The tone in his voice was far from kind so I forced a smile to hide my disgust. "It depends." Just like the bald guy before, he nodded at my words and asked, "What's your name?" I muttered something furthest away from my real name and looked in the other direction, thinking of a way to escape.

"When did you get here?" The question caught me off guard for a second. "Well…why don't ask Matt." I could tell I threw him off, but that doesn't explain the sudden hand on my shoulder. "Why should I ask him?" My eyes narrowed dangerously and I fought against myself to avoid hitting the guy. I swiped away the last remnants of blood from under my nose and wiped it on the leg of my pants. A distant creak sounded and everybody turned around to look at Matt, who had just walked into the room.

He looked up from his game and with shifty eyes said, "Why is everybody staring at me?" The guy scratched his neck and finally dropped his hands from my shoulder before pointing in my direction. "When did the girl get here?" He scoffed and drawled with an unreadable smile, "Her?" Adding a confused look to further the illusion. Thankfully, the man was too dull to catch onto the game. "Yeah, the girl over there." The guy pointed in my direction again and surprise, shock, and excitement flashed on Matt's face. He kept the smile on his face as he continued talking. "What about the girl?" If he keeps on going like this, everybody will eventually figure out I'm lying.

I nudged him harder than needed with my elbow and growled, "Tell them I'm your cousin." And added in a look that said 'play along or else', as an extra bonus. Thankfully, he understood what I was trying to tell him. He leaned in closer to me and whispered through playful chuckles. "I'm just messin' with you." I rolled my eyes at his behavior, but a smile grew nevertheless against my will to give in to his joke. "See, I told you I wasn't lying."

Another man pushed his way in front of the thinning group and got real close to my face to get a better look. Or at least that's what I think he was doing. With a snot-filled snort, he said, "You look familiar." I looked at the guy with a look that yelled 'BACK UP!'. But the voice did sound a little familiar. _'Wait! That guy from the van.' _If I was someone else, I would have appreciated the irony in the situation. My mouth trembled and my temper flared to a dangerous level. This man is reason why I'm stuck in this filthy place with a painful nose and stabbed leg! Through strained teeth, I hissed, "I guess I have one of those faces." The man nodded, but I had a feeling that he was still trying to remember my face.

Mello finally snapped out of whatever trance he was in, clapped his hands one, twice, and told everyone to get out. He might have been the youngest member of this group, but his voice held a tone of authority that rivaled anyone and dared them to argue with him. Quiet grumbles and mutters of death threats followed the group out the door.

And then there was three. Me, Matt, and Mello. Brown, Red, and Blond. Messy, bed head, and strangely neat. If I was someone else, theme music would have started playing.

Mello was the first to break the silence. "Ok, we will start off fresh tomorrow. Everyone to bed." Before I could give in any smart words, he left us standing there. Alone with the sound of beeping. Matt gave me a two finger salute with a crooked smile that exposed a chipped tooth and spun around to enter the only other open door. "Really?" I yelled in frustration. "Where am I supposed to sleep?" Through the door, I heard someone curse and yell back, "The couch! Now shut up and sleep!" I grumbled quietly, but still sunk into the worn couch.

On the table resting in front of me, I saw a black notebook with unreadable Japanese characters decorating the cover. Times like these make me wish I learned how to read the words like Kim stressed constantly. I always depended on her knowledge of the language to help me get along, but the furthest I got was how to poorly understand what the people said. I just catch the few words in their sentence and reply as best as I can, using the words I studied the night before. Talk about fun.

My hand steadily reached out for the black cover, fingertips barely brushing the surface. The texture resembled worn leather, but I didn't have enough to appreciate it before Mello emerged from his room. The air of superiority still tinged his voice as he spoke down to me. "What are _you_ doing?" Before I could answer, the notebook was snatched out of reach and cradled lovingly. Weird, right? A barely muffed burst of laughed shook my frame as I watched his strange actions. One would think he was holding something truly precious, not some old book.

His blissful expression turned enraged at my giggling. "Nothing is funny. Just keep your hands away from this book." It sounded like he was talking to troublesome child that had a knack for touching everything. "What is your problem?" I sneered. "What have I done to you to deserve this rude treatment?" Mello looked at me and shook his head sadly, as if surprised at my stupidity. "Ever since_ you_ got here, youact as if your queen fucking bee." With each word, he jabbed my shoulder with dagger like fingers. He huffed and looked down for a second. A questionable grin grew on his face and his right hand trailed down a dark leather vest while keeping a watchful eye on me. His hand went dangerously low and I flinched as it slipped under the waistband of constricting pants.

I wanted, no, _needed_ to look away, but my eyes were transfixed with the vulgar hand motions. The pale hand revealed itself once again as it left the confines of his pants, but it was bringing something with it. My eyes grew wide and filled with I think was pure fear. A shiny black handle was nestled in what looked like a soft palm. I backed up to escape the unstable smile, darkened eyes, angelic blond hair. However, my back hit the arm of the chair far too quickly. Up until now, I never noticed how dark the barrel of a gun is. The inside looked like a cave and it smelled of painful demise. Now that it's pointed directly at me, I can truly appreciate the beauty of it. Lucky me.

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><p>The ending of the chapter just got better. Oh yes, dahling. The game has just begun. Tira vs. Mello vs. 'loaded' gun. :)<p> 


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